Dylan Alcott’s tribute to father figures

Tennis champion Dylan Alcott has paid an emotional tribute to two father figures in his life, saying he owes his success to these amazing blokes — his dad and his brother.

Champion athlete Dylan Alcott has paid emotional tributes his dad, Martin, and brother, Zack, as the two father figures in his life.

Dylan is especially moved by the fact he’s now 28 years old — the age at which Martin had him and Zack.

“When my dad was 28, he had a three-year-old, which was my brother Zack, and a disabled son, which was me,” Dylan said. “I spent the first three-and-half years of my life in hospital. Can you imagine how gnarly that was?”

Dylan Alcott (centre) with dad Martin and brother Zack sample Man Tea’s Father’s Day offering on the Rooftop at QT Melbourne. Picture: Marten Ascenzo

Dylan said Martin drove him to sports events, saved up to buy wheelchairs, and encouraged him to be a champion. “I owe a lot of my success to him,” Dylan said.

He said Martin beamed with pride with each win, which have included an Olympics gold medal for basketball, and tennis titles at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, the US Open and French Open.

“Imagine having a sick son in hospital thinking he’s not gonna have much of a life?” Dylan said. “I can see on his face how far we’ve come … and how much it means to him.”

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Dylan gave a shout-out to Zack, also his biggest supporter, “because not all father figures have to be your dad … I’ve got two”.

Martin is the chairman of the Dylan Alcott Foundation. He and Dylan also have a company, Get Skilled Access.

Martin, Dylan and Zack were at QT Melbourne on Sunday sampling the Father’s Day offerings at Man Tea, to be held on the hotel rooftop on September 1. The event will serve up

fried chicken, pork belly, hot chips and optional whiskey shot or ale.